Justice Informatics Concentration

Program Description

With its thematic concentration in Justice Informatics (JI), Drexel University has transformed the traditional criminal justice degree program to produce graduates who possess knowledge and skills that are highly valued by criminal justice agencies in the 21st century. Namely, the program draws from criminology and criminal justice and computing and informatics to produce globally aware and technology proficient graduates who bring an analytical and information-led approach to solving the problems crime creates for society.

Each exposure to the criminal justice system represents a data collection point, which becomes part of a massive and disparate array of data held by the government. Students will learn how to collect, manage, visualize, and analyze large sources of information so that they can bring their expertise into the crime and justice occupational arena and/or graduate school. In addition to learning to work with "big" data in the public justice arena, students will learn how to identify, collect, manage, and use data from the expansive -- and rapidly growing -- private system of justice and security to creative innovative solutions for identifying, solving, and preventing crime.

Graduates of Drexel's Justice Informatics concentration will be ideally suited to meet the demands of the growing job market for crime analysts among criminal justice, defense, and intelligence agencies and in the private-sector security community. Crime analysts have become an essential part of the modern criminal justice agency. They have become vital to, for example, the large police department looking to deploy resources in a manner that matches crime trends, the intelligence agency working to prevent terrorist events, and the financial services firm hoping to identify the fraudulent use of a credit card. JI graduates can also play an integral role on teams that build future information technology solutions for intelligence, defense, and criminal justice agencies from the public and private sectors.

Given the global nature of crime and justice issues, JI requires one course on international justice systems; and it encourages all students to participate in at least one faculty-led study abroad program during which students will explore various justice-related themes (examples of recent trips: The Legacy of Nazi Policing and Cold War Justice in Munich and Prague; The Roots of Common Law Justice in London. Please visit the Study Abroad Program web page to view the location and itinerary of the 2016 study tour). The emphasis on comparative justice and study abroad reside at the leading edge of Drexel’s core value of global citizenship.

The Justice Informatics thematic concentration reserves 27.0 credits of free electives so that students can earn a minor outside the Program in Criminology and Justice Studies. Students interested in intelligence/security-related careers should consider minoring in a language. Visit Drexel's Modern Languages Program web page for a list of language minors.

Additional Information

For more information about the Justice Informatics concentration, please contact:

Robert D'Ovidio, PhD
Associate Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies
College of Arts and Sciencesrd64@drexel.edu

Justice Informatics Concentration

Professional Experiences

Students will complete one co-op (i.e., professional placement), typically during the spring and summer quarters of their Junior year. This way, when they return for the start of their senior year, they can immediately begin their (impending) post-graduation job search with their co-op experience still recent on their resume. Some placements are paid (usually in the private sector) and others are unpaid (primarily in the public sector). ﻿ The placements earn students academic credit while providing professional socialization and learning with crime and justice professionals. The networking aspects of these placements are invaluable for future career development. In addition to the learning experiences, past students have received excellent letters of recommendation for future employment agencies and for graduate and law school admissions.

In recent years, students have been placed in local agencies such as the District Attorney’s Office, the Institutional Law Project, the Juvenile Law Center, the Defendants Association of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia and Bucks County Prison Systems and the Pennsylvania Prison Society, Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Police. Several students have co-op'd and later worked full time at the Eastern State Penitentiary Historical Site and Museum. On the state level, co-op students have worked with the Board of Probation & Parole and other agencies. At the federal level, The US Customs Service had an agreement to accept cooperative education placements after having been screened by faculty. The faculty in Criminology and Justice Studies has been working over the past few years to expand its list of research co-ops (primarily for students working toward graduate school) and international co-ops.

Criminology and Justice Studies Faculty

Robert D'Ovidio, PhD(Temple University)Associate Dean for Humanities and Social Science Research and Graduate Education. Associate Professor. The intersection of computer technology, crime, and the criminal justice system; criminological theory; policing; transnational crime.

Julia Hall, PhD(University of Pennsylvania). Professor. Criminal justice and juvenile justice reform, including community based alternatives to incarceration, correctional education and programming, reentry and reintegration, restorative justice, and issues relating to special needs offenders, including the el

Writing-intensive Requirements

In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

For additional information, and an up-to-date list of the writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Drexel University Writing Center page